Oak Alley Plantation

Jacques T. Roman had a stately mansion on this southeast Louisiana sugarcane plantation built between 1837-39, using all slave labor. This mansion is a beautiful example of Greek Revival architecture.

Oak Alley
Click to enlarge 

Oak Alley is known for its almost 300-year-old 28 oak trees that evenly line the entrance to the home. This home and its surrounding grounds are a National Historic Landmark.

Today this plantation is a popular destination for both American and European tourists. It is one of the few plantation homes in Vacherie in St. James Parish that has been restored to its original splendor.

It is also known to be haunted.

Some attribute this ghostly activity to Jacques and Celina Roman’s first daughter, Louise Josephine Roman. She became the caregiver for her mother for many years after her father died.

Louise never married. When a drunken sailor visited the mansion unannounced, Louise, a young woman at the time, was home alone. She was forced to attend him. This sailor tried to kiss her at which point Louisa fled. In her hasty retreat, she tripped over her iron-framed hoop skirt.

Her leg was severely cut and later gangrene set in. Her leg had to be amputated. Louise then became a nun.

Widow's Walk
on roof.

An apparition that has been spotted by many is seen on the mansion’s widow walk on the roof—where the Roman women watched boats return from New Orleans. This ghost is believed to be Jacques’ wife, Celine.

The Oak Alley web site has a page devoted to the ghostly sightings that have occurred at this plantation. Several staff and visitors have noticed mysterious activity over the years.

The plantations assistant house manager, Denise Becnel was leaving the plantation one evening with her daughter and two tour guides, Connie Donadieu, and Billie Jo Bourgeois when they noticed a light on in the Lavender room.

Lavender Room

Mrs. Stewart at the plantation.

They were surprised for they had checked to make sure all the lights were out. As they looked up at this window, they spotted a figure of a woman. She looked like Mrs. Stewart, who was the last resident of the mansion.

The lights blinked, and they all rushed to their cars. Looking back, Becnel saw all the windows were now dark.

A maintenance worker, Mitchell Boone had his arm touched when he was the only one in the mansion, and an office assistant, Louise Boone found items mysteriously moved.

Another tour guide, Juliette Temple saw a female figure sitting on one bed in the Lavender room, and on another occasion she saw the apparition of a man wearing dark clothing and boots fade away in the kitchen area.

Witnesses over the years, including tour guides Helen Dumas and Theresa Harrison, have heard the sounds of a horse-drawn carriage traveling up the plantation’s graveled road. These two guides had also seen dust billow in this area when they heard this carriage.

Yet another tour guide, Peggy Rodrigue has heard this carriage as well as a baby crying in the mansion.

Thirty-five Grey Line bus passengers while touring the home saw a candlestick fly across the room.

Oak Alley after the Civil War, like many southern plantations, fell into disrepair. A series of owners tried to restore it but failed.

Slave quarters at Oak Alley

In the mid-1920s a couple, Mr. and Mrs. Stewart succeeded in restoring the mansion and its' surrounding buildings, slave quarters, etc. to their former condition.

When Mrs. Stewart died in 1972 she endowed the plantation as a non-profit to maintain the home and the 25 surrounding acres. Tours are offered year-round.

Myrtles Plantation: Chloe and The Mirror

The haunting connected to the Myrtles Plantation located in St. Francisville, Louisiana is one of the better-known ghost stories in America. But researchers point to the fact that it is more myth than reality.

The plantation today is a bed and breakfast. The legend states that the Myrtles is haunted by a former slave that is seen roaming the grounds and that she and her victims also haunt one mirror located in the main house.

Myrtles Plantation

Bradford was the first to
see a ghost on the plantation.
A naked Indian girl.

A former Pennsylvania lawyer Whiskey Dave Bradford built the Myrtles home in 1796. The plantation sits on a Tunica Indian burial ground. The property was eventually passed on to his daughter Sara and her husband Judge Clark Woodruff in the 1820s.

The Woodruffs had three children, Cornelia, Jane, and Mary. They owned slaves, and one of these slaves a pretty young field hand by the name of Chloe is said to have been promoted to a house slave to act as governess for the Woodruff children.

Chloe supposedly was so grateful for her new position that when the Judge, who was a womanizer, approached her for sexual favors, she went along to keep her new job.

Being the Judge’s mistress, Chloe now felt her new status was safe and she would be able to remain in the house. But Judge Woodruff had a wandering eye, and it wasn’t long before he became bored with Chloe.

When the Judge rejected Chloe she became obsessed with the fact that she might be sent back to the fields. Becoming increasingly paranoid she began to eavesdrop on the Judge’s private conversations.

But the Judge caught her listening one-day and ordered that one of her ears be chopped off as punishment. For the rest of her short life, Chloe wore a green turban wrapped around her head so no one would see her wound.

Now afraid she would be doomed to hard labor for the rest of her life she began to plot how she could become indispensable to the Woodruffs so she could remain a house slave.

She came up with a plan to give the family a small amount of poison to make them ill—then she would prove her worth by nursing them all back to health.

Making a cake for Cornelia’s upcoming birthday, Chloe crushed oleander leaves, boiled them and put this water into the cake. Unfortunately, she used too much, and the result was Sara and two of her children, Cornelia and Jane died.

The Judge and baby Mary did not eat the cake, so they survived.

Chloe told another slave what she had done, and soon the word spread. The rest of the slaves worried they would be implicated in these deaths decided to tell the judge--in order to gain favor.

They lynched Chloe and then weighted her body with rocks and threw it into a nearby river.

It wasn’t long before witnesses began to see Chloe’s ghost roaming the plantation grounds. She was recognized because this figure wore a green turban. 

A story then circulated that her ghost also haunted a mirror that hung in the dining room where the family members died.

Myrtles haunted mirror.

In more recent years other witnesses have come forward to state that Chloe’s victims, Sara Woodruff and her two children also haunt this mirror.

The reason given as to why this mirror is haunted is based on an old superstition connected to death and mirrors. It is said the Judge sealed off this dining room shortly after the deaths—no one was allowed to enter the room for years.

Because of this the mirror was left uncovered during the mourning period for his family and then when Chloe was hanged, it trapped all four of their spirits in the mirror’s reflection.

For some, the story above has been proven to be just an entertaining myth. 

Many have debunked the spirits spotted in the hallway mirror at the plantation as being just “matrixing.” An explanation of this term is located in another post, here.

Others point to the fact that this mirror probably wasn’t in the plantation home at the time the Woodruffs lived there. It is believed that the Myers who owned the Myrtles in the 1970s bought this mirror in New Orleans feeling it matched the plantations décor.

Despite these arguments, many still believe Chloe haunts the Myrtles Plantation. 

Witnesses state they have seen her apparition as well as the ghosts of the Woodruff children.

This photo is said to be a ghost captured on film at Myrtles Plantation.

Some believe Chloe's ghost was captured in the following famous photo taken at the plantation. 

Photo of Chloe's ghost.

New Orleans: The Haunted Carrollton Jail

What once was the separate community of Carrollton the seat of Jefferson Parish now sits in the uptown historic district of New Orleans, Louisiana.

Old timers remember the old jail in Carrollton that sat behind the courthouse. It was once located nearby where the historic streetcars still run today.

After the Civil War this jail housed a vicious criminal accused of murdering his wife. The police officers at this station enraged by this crime--took matters into their own hands.

They beat this man to death in his cell. It was stated with his dying breath he promised he would return from the grave--presumably to take revenge.

Reports from this police station in 1899 reflect that this wife-killer did return to haunt the jail. His violent presence was noted near the cell wall where he was beaten to death.

An unseen force suddenly tossed a woman who was standing against this wall away from it. Bravely she retook her spot three more times. Each of these times as she leaned against the wall she was mysteriously thrown off.

Later, in the same week a police officer lying on a couch near this wall was tossed away from it along with the couch. Yet another officer experienced this same phenomenon.

Rumors began to spread about these odd incidents.

Other strange incidents involving the wall began to occur. A portrait of Admiral Dewey was seen spinning and a painting of General P.T. Beauregard--of Shiloh fame--dropped and broke as it hit the floor.

Both items were securely attached to this wall at the time of these incidents.

The Carrollton jail now was believed to be haunted.

9th District Police Station and Jail
on Short Street behind Carrollton
Courthouse. 1900

Prisoners kept at the jail stated, “they were beaten in their cells” by an unseen entity.

Several officers heard mysterious footsteps and others saw paperweights fly from their desks into the air.

One officer even claimed this angry ghost tried to strangle him.

Yet another ghost was seen at the jail. This apparition was that of a deceased police officer who had worked at the station. His appearances ended as abruptly as they began.

The Carrollton jail was torn down in the 1930s. The wreaking crew stated they saw a vague figure watching them as they worked. They heard this figure laughing.

Despite the fact this jail has been gone a long time there are still reports that this ghost is seen near the old Courthouse and streetcar line.

Louisiana’s Female Killer

Annie Beatrice McQuiston better known as Toni Jo Henry was 26 years old when she became the first female in Louisiana to be executed in the electric chair.

Toni Jo sitting in her cell
the morning of her
execution.

Toni Jo had both beauty and brains, but a tough childhood left her scarred. Her mother died when she was four, and an aunt took her in. Toni Jo found no love in this household. She didn't finish grade school, and she started to run away at age 13.

It was not long before Toni Jo had a reputation in her hometown of Lake Charles, Louisiana as being a “lewd woman.” By the age of 17, she was addicted to cocaine and was working as a prostitute in a local brothel.

She was arrested several times for assault, larceny, and vagrancy. She served a short stretch in jail for cutting off part of a man’s ear with scissors. Not surprising she gained a reputation for being “the most ornery gal east of the Mississippi.”

The one bright spot in Toni Jo’s life was when she met Claude Henry known as “Cowboy” in a brothel she worked in. The two hit it off right away, and Cowboy helped Toni Jo kick her cocaine habit. They fell in love and were married.

Claude "Cowboy" Henry

But Cowboy had killed a police officer in Texas before he met Toni Jo and when the law caught up to him, he was taken back to Texas. He was tried and convicted of this murder and was sentenced to 50 years in Huntsville.

Toni Jo became determined to break Cowboy out of prison. She enlisted the help of a bum, Harold Finnon Burkes--known as “Arkie.” The two started to hitchhike across Louisiana headed for Texas.

This pair pulled a pistol on a car salesman J.P. Crowley who stopped to give them a ride. They forced this poor man to strip naked and tortured him. As he begged for his life Toni Jo put a pistol between his eyes and shot--he died instantly.

The two took Crowley’s car and went on their way. But they stopped at a roadhouse where they both got drunk. They proceeded to brag about killing Crowley. In short order, they were arrested, and Crowley’s body was found.

Calcasieu Parish Courthouse

They both claimed the other had actually pulled the trigger but this ploy backfired for both were convicted of murder and sentenced to hang. During Toni Jo’s first trial in Lake Charles the hundred plus crowd in the large Calcasieu Parish Courtroom often shouted, “hang her, hang her.”

Texas released Cowboy under close supervision during this time, and he was taken to Lake Charles to coax a confession out of Toni Jo--she openly admitted to him that she shot Crowley “right between the eyes.”

Toni Jo’s lawyers appealed her conviction, and she was granted a second trial where she was sentenced to die again. They then appealed once more, and she was given a third trial where the verdict did not change.

By the end of Toni Jo’s third trial, Louisiana had brought in an electric chair to be used in state executions. She was sentenced to die on November 28, 1942.

Toni Jo became a celebrity and she was often granted privileges other prisoners were not given. She was even allowed to keep a pet in her cell. When it came time for her execution, a hairdresser was called in to cut her hair instead of the prison barber.

Cowboy managed to break out of a prison farm a few days before Toni Jo was to be electrocuted--in an attempt to save her-- but he was re-captured quickly.

It was Toni Jo’s dying wish to talk to Cowboy and even though it broke the rules she was allowed this call. “She did all the talking, and he did all the crying.”

Louisiana's electric chair.

It is said that Toni Jo was calm on the day of her execution. She spent the morning joking with her jailers, waiting for the governor’s call which never came. She did protest loudly when they cut off her hair.

After her execution Cowboy went wild and tore up his prison cell. Ironically, just a few years after Toni Jo’s death Cowboy was released from prison, but within ten years he was shot and killed.

It is said Toni Jo’s ghost haunts the Calcasieu Parish Courthouse in Lake Charles. Footsteps are heard, and a distinct perfume from the 1940s is often noticed around this building.

A woman’s husky voice is often heard in the distance but no one has been able to make out what she is saying.

An electric rotating file is often mysteriously turned off when no one is near it. This file is turned on and off with a key. Courthouse employees consider this to be Toni Jo’s handiwork. 

The door to the entrance to this area has to be unlocked with a key as well. It is then left unlocked during the day--but voter registration employees have found the door locked in the middle of the day.

Even more startling activity occurs on a stair landing. This stair is near where Toni Jo was said to be executed. A woman’s shrill screams are often heard in this area.

Here is a link to a Travel Channel episode of Ghost Stories that has several witnesses sharing their encounters with Toni Jo's ghost.